Throne of Law¶
"The Astral Shards came originally from the Throne of Law which was forged to control and manage all of creation." — from Gods & Astral Domains (S420)
The Throne of Law was the seat of dominion over creation, forged by the Einar after their victory over the elementals. Whoever sat it ruled the gods: first the High God Tamariel, then his murderer Izhtari. It bound the elementals, drew the energies of Terrun into the Astral, and was used to make the Primal Dragons. Kalar's rebellion broke it in the Age of Demons, and its pieces are the Astral Shards, whose ownership makes a god a god.
Forging¶
The newest cosmology sets the forging in the Age of Titans, after the world was made. Through most of that age the Einar "squabbled and disagreed on how to bring order to their new world. The Throne of Law was forged to settle the matter and granted uncontestable dominion to 12 High Gods of the Einar" (S001). The same document counts its construction among the changes the Einar brought, with the creation of the Titans and the birth of souls (S001).
What the Throne was made of is told in the 2022 cosmology. After the Primordial War "the most powerful and sentient of the elementals were locked away and the material plane was divided as the sovereign matter was extracted and embedded within the Astral Plane and Throne of Law" (S013). It was an instrument of control as much as a seat: "After the War of the Primordials, The Throne of Law was formed to bind the elementals in eternal servitude and into its jailkeepers, the Titans. Each Titan was bound to a host of elemental subjects which were imprisoned on the Elemental Planes" (S208).
Seat of the High God¶
The 2020 history gives the Throne its rulers. It "was forged at the end of the Primordial conflict to govern both Inner and Heavenly Planes. The High God Tamariel sat on the throne and was the ultimate ruler of all things" (S386). When the gods' quarrels became the Elder God War, Tamariel "was murdered by his wife Izhtari in a coup", and Izhtari "consolidated her power over the Throne of Law, which she directly controlled and delegated to those Einar in her favor" (S386). The story of that reign belongs to the Elder Gods.
The Eldritch were bound to it. "The Eldritch have Covenants with the Throne of Law and Astral Shards. These cannot not be broken by any known means" (S141), which is why the Younger Gods imprisoned rather than destroyed them (see Eldritch Soulcruxes). The newest cosmology makes the Throne the cause of their quarrel with the gods: the Eldritch, allies of the Einar in the Primordial War, saw "their relations soured after the construction of the Throne of Law, which redirected the energies of Terrun into a new Astral Realm under the control of the Einar. The Eldritch resisted this transition as the betrayal and direct theft of their greatest source of power that it was" (S001).
The Primal Dragons¶
When the Demons came, "Izhtari and the Einar used the Throne of Law to create the Primal Dragons and their broods to counter the threat. The Primal Dragons were forged of Astral and Elemental energies and added considerable power to their Dragon Broods as well" (S386). The dragons slowed the demon hordes but did not stop them.
Shattering¶
The demon war split the gods. "Some felt drastic measures that would reduce the Throne of Law's considerable power were in order" (S386). Izhtari banished the Einar who were not with her from the Astral Plane. "A group of Einar led by Kalar made a pact with four imprisoned Primordial Elementals and managed to break into the Astral Plane and destroy the Throne of Law. Izhtari's power was broken, and individual Einar took possession of the remaining shards and power of the Throne" (S386). The four Primordials had their price: "When the Throne of Law was shattered, the four Primordial Elementals which assisted the young gods were freed as part of the bargain. These four primordials (known as the Elemental Aspects) ruled the Elemental Planes exclusively" (S001; also S013, S421, S389). The 2022 history of magic tells it in a sentence: "The demonic threat led to a fracturing of the unity of the Gods and Kalar's faction (the Younger Gods) won out. The Throne of Law was destroyed and its remnants, the Astral Shards, were claimed by the younger gods" (S208).
The breaking scattered the Throne's plane. "After the throne of law was destroyed, it shattered this plane into individual shards of various sizes, each composed of sovereign matter. The gods fought over these shards and their ownership conferred dominion over the other material and elemental planes" (S013). "When the Throne was shattered, this dominion passed to the Einar (The Younger Gods) which claimed the shards, numbered now in the hundreds" (S001). Not every fragment was great: "When the throne of law shattered, in addition to larger shards, where tiny ones which were dust compared to the other shards. However, this granted them much of the same power (though less), and most importantly, a platform from which they could grow their power" (S434). Those fragments, their classes and the rules of owning one are described under Astral Shards; the war over them is the God Wars. One shard, reforged, became the Worldstone.
Afterward¶
The Throne was not forgotten. After the Demon War "some of the Einar had formed a group among the gods whose goal was to restore the Throne of Law and undo the changes brought about by Kalar" (S386), the Izhtarus, whose quarrel with the Kalari opened the First Dragon Wars.
Earlier accounts¶
The 2020 history and the 2022 history of magic set the forging at the close of the Primordial War, the Throne made to govern the Inner and Heavenly Planes (S386) or to bind the elementals under the Titans (S208). The 2026 cosmology moves it later, to a quarrel among the Einar during the Age of Titans, and gives dominion to twelve High Gods rather than to one (S001).
Gap
No source describes what the Throne looked like, where on the Astral Plane it stood, who forged it, or how it was broken. None names the twelve High Gods of S001 or the four Primordials of Kalar's pact.